Stars and Supermen
by Kentheemperor
Summary: One night, one campfire. A series of exchanges between old friends that ultimately paints a far greater picture.
1. Stars and Supermen

The campfire illuminated the round face of young Mimi Tachikawa. She lay completely still, save for one motion.

"Orion…Pisces…" She mouthed to herself. Her gaze followed her own outstretched finger, which was silently tracing the stars in the sky.

"Libra?" She stopped and screwed up her eyes, her finger hovering in the air. The silence was lost when a frustrated breath left the girl's lips. Shifting slightly, she dug her shoulder blades into the grass and rubbed her eyes.

"Orion…Pisces…"

"Since when were you an astronomer?" Came a voice out of the darkness. Mimi flinched and rolled onto her stomach to see Izzy dropping a bundle of twigs onto the fire. It hissed in response, spitting out a few embers. He sat on a nearby log and poked at the firewood with a stick until it simmered.

"Since forever. I've never seen this many out before. " Mimi said quickly. She had to squint to see Izzy on the other side of the flames. "Do you think it means anything?"

"There's obviously minimal light pollution tonight" Izzy replied.

"I wonder how many other worlds might be out there. They could be watching us" Mimi said, craning her neck upwards.

"Statistically speaking, 90% of it is likely to be rock and gas." Izzy said. Mimi frowned and lay her hands down like a pillow, resting her head on top. "That's if you don't take into account dark matter or dark energy…" Izzy continued, mostly to himself.

"Ugh, couldn't you have some imagination for once?" Mimi scoffed.

"Science and imagination don't mix"

"Science can't explain Superman."

"Wait… what?" Izzy's face shrivelled up like he'd been hit by something sour. Mimi sat up with an overly self-satisfied smile.

"Superman. They say there are lots of them in space. I read it in a book."

"Supernova." Izzy said bluntly. "_Superman_ is a fictional super hero created by Jerry Siegel. A _supernova_ is the explosion that occurs when a star dies. And please, you don't read."

Mimi let out an incredulous gasp and stared wide eyed at her companion. "I think I would know! I read a lot actually, Anthony Cliffborough says reading is good for-"

"Oh gosh, not him again. That talentless hack is only famous because impressionable young girls take his word as holy gospel."

"_No_, he's famous because he's the world's leading intelectologist."

"That isn't a word." Izzy shook his head at the girl, whose face had shrunk and whose lips were quivering. She sniffed and turned to face the other way.

For the next few minutes the only sound was the periodic crackle of fire. Izzy was hunched over the thing, eyes very far away. Occasionally a spark flew outwards and made a particularly audible pop, and Izzy would laboriously rearrange the wooden heap, hushing it to sleep again. He yawned and stretched out, disinterested in the tired blur that everything had become.

"I'm cold." Said a voice that punched the silence. It was Mimi. She was still sitting a short distance away, hugging her knees. With another yawn Izzy patted the empty space next to him on the log. Mimi obliged and took the seat, staring at the jumping embers.

"Maybe that's what they want you to think." Mimi suddenly said.

"What?"

"Maybe they want you to think there's nothing up there, that it's all boring. That way you won't go looking for it."

"Is this another one of your conspiracy theories?" He said.

"No I'm serious. It's like this fire." She said, motioning to the burning mound in front of them. Izzy rubbed his forehead.

"Mimi, I-"

"No, you listen to me for once." Mimi interrupted in a huff. "You sit here and poke that fire, and every time it hisses a little too loud, or an ember jumps away, you correct it. You make sure the other embers don't do the same. Why? You don't know, you just do it. You want _control, _and _order. _And…and…" She exhaled loudly and sunk a little deeper into the log on which she was seated. Shaking her head she resolved to looking away and croaking,"Oh just forget it."

But Izzy didn't forget it. He looked up and tossed the stick he was using into the fire. He watched it crackle and break up, joining the hundreds of tiny embers that jumped for freedom. Then he turned to the girl next to him and said,

"So when are we heading up?"

"Up where?" Mimi said unenthusiastically.

Izzy flicked his head in the direction of the sky. "Up there. To find out how many worlds there are." For the first time that evening Mimi smiled. She shut her eyes, and scooting up to him, laid her head on his shoulder.

"What happened to 90% rock and gas?" She said.

"Oh I'm still right about that." Izzy said. "It just means there's a 10% chance we'll find Superman."

**Thanks very much for reading the first part, if you enjoyed then I'd appreciate if you let me know through a comment/fav! And if you hated it, tell me why! Seriously, all feedback is helpful :)**

**And if you stick around, next will be the story of Joe and Gomamon**


	2. A Game of Trust

"It's a game of trust, so _trust _me" Said the voice from high up in the tree. Joe Kido grumbled as the makeshift blindfold fell into his grasp. He turned it over in his hands and ran his finger and thumb across the surface.

"What in gods name did you make this from? My skins chaffing just holding it." Joe said, looking down at the black fabric with little enthusiasm.

"Woodland materials." Came Gomamon's matter-of-fact reply, who fidgeted on his perch in the tree.

"It better be non-irritant" Joe said, glaring through the darkness at his friend.

"Just put it on already, nobody wants to hear your melodrama."

"I will, but only because I have nothing better to do…" Joe mumbled.

The forest was sleeping that night. Even the ever-present chatter of wildlife was muted, as insects abandoned their posts and took the night off. Joe placed his glasses at the foot of the tree before bringing the blindfold to eye level and whispering, "Now listen, I happen to be very susceptible to allergic reactions, and if you make my eyes go all red and bulgy, I'll throw you in the ocean. You here me?" The blindfold stared back in defiance.

"Can we hurry this up, your patheticness?" Gomamon interjected.

"I have very sensitive skin alright?" Joe huffed. He squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped the material twice around his head, tying it in a knot at the end.

"See, its not so bad"

"I…guess not?" Joe replied, and immediately went to scratch beneath the blindfold. Gomamon reached out and plucked a piece of yellow fruit from a branch just above him, closing one eyelid as if inspecting a precious rock. With a blank expression he took a deep breath, feeling the cool exterior of the fruit as he touched it against his nose. In one quick motion he catapulted it towards the unsuspecting Joe, the fruit passing inches from the boy's face and exploding on the ground. Joe didn't flinch, nor move out of the way. A serious Gomamon nodded in self satisfaction and moved to the edge of the branch on which he was sitting.

"Alright, I'm going to give you some instructions and you better listen closely." Gomamon barked. Somewhere along the line he had decided he was some sort of army general, who had divine authority over the young Joe.

"Er, listening?" Joe replied hesitantly.

"First things first, you're facing the wrong direction. Rotate 180 degrees." Joe did as he was told, and turned to face the opposite direction, away from Gomamon. "Next, I want you to take exactly…" he paused, his mouth agape in silent calculation "…9 and a half baby steps straight ahead." Again, Joe followed the instruction and began shuffling forward with uncertainty.

After three steps, Gomamon's voice rang out.

"You call those baby steps? An ostrich takes smaller steps than that. Go back three steps." Joe's blindfold creased reflecting the frown underneath it. He started walking backwards, this time taking such minuscule steps that he ended up nowhere near where he started.

"No, no, no I didn't mean that!" Gomamon was pinching the bridge of his nose dramatically. He wasn't getting paid enough for this. "Never mind, just keep walking until I tell you to stop."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Joe said, his voice cracking unexpectedly.

"I told you, you have to _trust_ me."

"Alright, alright" Joe conceded and began walking steadily straight ahead. Gomamon watched from his elevated position. He saw Joe walk, or rather stumble forward, getting closer to his inevitable fate. His serious expression was replaced by an immature grin, and turning away from Joe he leapt from his tree and sped off in the opposite direction.

Joe carried on plodding along. His footsteps became more unsure the further he walked and the greater the silence from his digimon partner. He called out several times for reassurance and got no reply. But he didn't stop walking. He assumed that was part of the test. He was proved wrong. He'd thought the increasing sound of running water was strange.

Eventually he took a step forward but his foot didn't touch the ground. It just kept falling, and his entire body followed. He shrieked in horror as he found his himself in what he assumed was a fast moving river, but his cries were muffled by the water that cascaded in and out of his mouth. His head bobbed above and below the surface. He thought he was going to pass out.

Gomamon waited at the juncture where the river met the lake. In vast quantities the excitable current was swallowed up and charmed into quiet obedience, swaying softly under the command of the moon. He watched the display in a sort of trance, waiting for a body to appear amongst the current. But that never happened.

"Maybe he didn't fall in" Gomamon pondered. "Maybe he's smarter than he looks." Puzzled and disappointed, he bounded back up the river bank to solve the mystery. "Joe?" Gomamon called out, but the close ranting of the river was the only reply. He turned over rocks and peered behind trees but Joe was invisible.

That was when he saw the lonely twig, sticking out from the river bank. It bent slightly at the centre as if it were being tugged on one side. As Gomamon followed its slim profile he gasped in panic as he saw what was caught on the end of it. A single shoe, large and white with red on the sides. Unmistakably Joe's. But Joe was nowhere to be seen.

**What happened to Joe? All will be revealed eventually. Once again, thanks for reading. Next up will be Sora and Tai's story. **


	3. Trees with Sweeter Fruit

It appeared for all the world that the field was empty. Nothing but waves of green tumbled over each other for miles where two figures, a boy and a girl, marched across the land with sunken spirits. The unyielding sunlight and the barrenness of the field had sapped the energy from them. He thought he was thinking outside the box. She thought it was utterly ridiculous leading them this far away from camp. They were probably both right.

A flask of water that clung to his belt was all that had kept them going this long. He reached for it now, on one of their many rest breaks.

"I think we should turn back." Sora said. She had taken off her hat and was using it as a fan in a vain attempt to cool herself. Her complexion, which had exhibited an uncanny number of colours thus far, had seemingly settled on a dark scarlet. Despite his good intentions, she knew she'd been too submissive with her companion.

Yes, she understood his desire for a more wholesome meal. The berries they'd found scattered around camp had started to get on everybody's nerves, not least hers. She had been happy to volunteer to accompany him, after all, she knew him better than anyone. She knew how stubborn he could be. Yet, she failed to complain when they no longer recognised their surroundings, nor when the sun sat in the middle of the sky and they had still made no progress. Only now, when the sun was on its way down, did she object. In part she blamed herself for the situation.

"There's gotta be something somewhere around here." Tai reemphasised, and held the flask of water to his lips. Like Sora he was feeling the symptoms of the heat, just, he was doing a better job of hiding it.

"You've been saying that for hours Tai. We'll run out of water soon."

"Then what's a few more minutes? If we don't find anything we'll turn back,"

"You promise?"

"I promise." Tai said, and they set off again.

Tai recognised stubbornness was a trait of his, it always had been. But through a warped ideology and apparent sense of irony, he maintained that it was an attribute necessary to be a leader. And despite how it had seemingly led them astray, he may have had a case. But Sora was fed up.

"How about I lead the way for a bit?" Sora offered.

"Well, you know, I'd let you Sora, it's just everyone knows women have no sense of direction." The comment was delivered with no indication of a joke.

"Oh because your sense of direction has been so terrific."

"Actually I think-"

"I bet they call you Bear Grylls, and you go to sleep with a golden compass around your neck." Sora interrupted with militant sarcasm. "If only you were captaining the Titanic, then they would never have hit the iceberg."

Tai snickered, aware that he'd won the argument without even having to argue. It wasn't usually that easy.

"Alright, geez, go ahead and lead the way. It's not like it'll make any difference." He said doing his very best to keep a straight face. Sora didn't appear so amused and strutted off ahead. Perhaps the situation hadn't called for his usual childishness, but he couldn't resist acting that way around her, as he had always done.

"There's got to be something around here." Sora muttered to herself, and mentally cursed when she realised she was sounding just like Tai. Being responsible wasn't so easy.

She dabbed away the sweat from her forehead, and told herself Tai was acting strange because of the heat, or the malnourishment, or something. Deep down though, she couldn't escape the pressing feeling that _she _was the problem. Since they had been at camp, Sora was noticing subtle changes in Tai's behaviour. It was as though he didn't know how to act around her. On occasion he'd be his usual boyish self that he'd always been, when all of a sudden he'd adopt a serious expression and would make some deeply philosophical comment that Sora wasn't even sure made sense. That afternoon had been evidence of it, switching without warning between a leader and a joker. Maybe it was because of this she had been spending more time around Matt. But that only seemed to have made things worse.

"How's it going Captain? Have we spotted land yet?" Tai called from a few paces behind. Sora had to admit, she preferred him this way. It's what made Tai, Tai.

"Not yet, I might have to start thinking about-" Sora didn't finish the sentence. She reached the crest of a small hill and surveyed the land in front of her. That's when she saw it. "Look!" She called to Tai, pointing straight in front of her at the only object for miles. "Land ho!"

It was a tree, with a thick chestnut trunk and branches that spread out like a fan, supporting a lush dome of green. Around the trunk was a dark patch of land, invaluable shade for the two travellers. They reached it quickly enough, both of them running with giddy smiles and diving into the shade as if it would breath new life into them. The scene would not have been out of place in a desert, where two stragglers had found the only source of water.

"What was that you were saying about a women's sense of direction?" Sora boasted.

"I take everything back" Tai said with mirthful humility. He was merely thankful that the torturous journey had ended.

Stemming from the branches of the tree were vast riches of colourful fruits that came in three varieties. Tai immediately plucked one from its branch, a shiny orb of pink.

"Do you think they're safe to eat?" Tai said, rotating the fruit in his hands.

"It's a bit risky" Sora warned.

"Only one way to find out." Before Sora could argue differently, Tai had taken a bite from the fruit.

Like some grub connoisseur he chewed painfully slowly, aligning his expressions with what he believed to be the quality of the pink fruit. Sora could see him shifting it around his mouth and shook her head in frustrated astonishment; how he could exaggerate the act to this extent was beyond her. He took at least a minute to finish his one bite, making sure every granule had been analysed in surgical depth.

"So?" Sora said with expectation.

"It's good!" Tai replied, and collapsed cross legged in the shade to feast on the rest of it.

Sora sighed and shook her head once more. She reached up and took from the tree the second variety of fruit. It was orange in colour, with rough spines that protruded from its surface making it slightly uncomfortable to hold. It didn't look like it would be possible to bite into it. She juggled it between her hands, noticing its dull warmth that, due to its home in the shade, was rather baffling. Doubtful about trusting the fruit she kept hold of it and retrieved from a nearby branch the only alternative.

The third and final type of fruit was blue, and like the its pink counterpart it was smooth, glossy and cool to the touch. Sora fancied her chances with this blue fruit more than the orange one, and lifted it up with the intention of taking a bite.

"Wait." Tai interrupted, still with a mouthful of fruit. "What's wrong with the orange one?"

Sora wasn't aware that he had been watching her and nearly dropped both of them.

"This one looks safer to eat." Sora replied assertively, bemused as to why Tai cared at all which fruit she ate.

"Why?" Tai said, gulping down the last of his own fruit.

"It's smoother"

"So?"

"So it looks better!" Sora said beginning to gesticulate. "Why do you even care?"

"You took the orange one first, I just wondered why you didn't try it." Tai stood up and reached for his own pair of blue and orange fruit. He studied them both before catapulting the blue fruit at the tree trunk with some force. "And for the record, I think the orange one looks better. More interesting anyway."

"Well, the blue one is more similar to the pink one, and that turned out ok" Sora argued.

"Yeah sure they look similar on the surface, but they probably taste completely different."

"The orange one is warm and its been in the shade. It must be rotten." Sora reasoned. "Plus it's too rough, I don't think I could bite into it even if I wanted to."

"The harder the shell, the sweeter the fruit." Tai said, apparently dipping back into philosopher mode. He shrugged and dropped the orange fruit to the ground. "Whatever, it's your choice."

Sora looked at the fruit in her palms, torn by the silent debate between her head and her heart.

On the one hand the blue fruit seemed to make more sense. It appeared cleaner, more innocent and less complicated. What's more was, on the surface at least, it appeared more similar to the pink fruit that Tai had liked. Her head told her that it was the obvious choice. But then, there was something compelling about the odd warmth that radiated from the orange fruit. It's appearance too was unique and intriguing, and the challenge of getting into it would surely make it more rewarding. For whatever reason her gut - her heart - was telling her take the risk and go for the fruit she first laid eyes on.

Tai knew exactly why he was arguing for one fruit over the other, and the parallels he was drawing with his own life. He stood and watched, helpless to stop her making the wrong choice. He knew full well that the blue fruit was the sensible, logical choice. But he knew she wouldn't like it. She knew she would spit it right back out. And sure enough he was correct.

"Ugh that's disgusting!" Sora exclaimed, the ground laden with sour blue chunks. "Water!" Like an erratic child she tried to physically wipe the taste from her tongue, only to regret it and spit out again. Tai who would usually be in tears at this point watched on wistfully, obediently tossing her the flask.

The sun was about to set, and Sora gleefully allowed the last drop of water to touch her lips. She was grinning as she turned to Tai in preparation for the gloating and the 'I told you so' that would surely come. But they didn't come. She was alone.

"Tai?" She said aloud. There was no answer. Her grin drooped. "Where in the world…?" Sora looked out at the field and had to squint to see a figure in the distance, with a bag - presumably full of fruit - slung over his shoulder. "What is wrong with him?" She heaved to herself. Her eyes felt heavy and she couldn't stave away the sudden, impossible loneliness.

By her feet she noticed the orange fruit. She crouched down to pick it up and felt a pang of guilt. It was no longer warm. She too was growing cold, and the sun had virtually sunk into the horizon. In the dim light of the early evening, Sora cracked the tough exterior of the fruit against the tree once and then twice, exhaling as she heard it crack and its soft fruit fall to the floor. Her eyes widened as she put it to her lips, not quite believing the divine sensation that overcame her. It was the best fruit she had ever tasted. And she pondered what could have been.

**Hope you enjoyed. This part turned out longer than the others because I felt there is a bigger picture than what is being told here. Remember, all the parts will be linked by the end so stick around. Next up is, of course, Matt's side of things. **


End file.
